tesla

Of all the James Bond movies that have been made, my favorite has always been the Roger Moore flick where his Lotus Esprit turns into a submarine. Apparently, Tesla's Elon musk liked that flick too. Back in 2013, he purchased the prop submarine used in the film and at the time word was that he planned to update the sub with some Tesla innards.

I’m often asked who I think could be the biggest game-changer in the world of technology in the next decade. Often, people share their opinions on the matter, saying that it’ll be Apple or Google or even Microsoft. They argue that companies – not individuals – will ultimately be the change agents going forward. While I can certainly agree that major companies will likely play a major role in industry growth, I see things a much different way. I still believe that individuals can change the world in dramatic fashion, and the person who has the highest likelihood of doing that right now is Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

Tesla's next product may not have an "insane mode" but the home battery pack CEO Elon Musk has revealed is in the pipeline could make more of a difference than its pricey electric sedans. Speaking during the Tesla investor call, Musk said that he expected the new batteries to be officially revealed in the "next month or two" and then hit production potentially mid-year. And, while in a performance car like the Model S P85D the idea is to get the power from the batteries to the road as swiftly as possible, the real merit of Tesla's home battery packs will be in how they can hoard electricity.

Tesla bested its own production records in Q4 2014 but then stumbled at actually delivering cars, including the new "insane mode" toting Model S P85D, dipping in profit and revenue but still promising big things for 2015. 11,627 cars came off the end of the Model S production line, Tesla said today, but a variety of problems - ranging from customers being on vacation, through bad weather, and even issues "with actual ships" - meant almost 1,800 of them failed to reach their buyers. While Tesla reached its 35k production goal for 2014, Elon Musk & Co. have set even more ambitious targets for the coming months, aiming for 55,000 cars in 2015.

The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) this year will host Elon Musk, founder and CEO of the Tesla Motor company, speaking with NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. This event will be a headliner for GTC 2015, bringing heat with Tesla Motors product architect speaking about "how more intelligent cars promise to transform the automotive industry." This alongside GTC's focus on the "growing revolution in deep learning that can affect every aspect of computing" promises to deliver a whopper of a show - and we'll be there to bring it to you straight from San Francisco.

Tesla's appetite for new blood as it develops the Model S and new electric cars has a taste for fresh fruit, with CEO Elon Musk admitting that Apple staff are hire of choice. Musk's car company has turned to Apple employees or ex-employees more than those from any other firm as it builds its teams, in fact, more so in fact than from the traditional car makers. Meanwhile, despite offering what are said to be huge signing bonuses and pay bumps, Apple is reportedly struggling to return the favor and poach staff from Tesla.

Tesla will soon be installing free charging stations in its Chinese customers' homes, the auto maker's China president Zhu Xiaotong has revealed. This comes after Elon Musk revealed that the company's sales in China dipped during the fourth quarter of last year, failing to meet the company's anticipated sales numbers. The reasons for this are being cited as possible concerns about how far one can travel in a Tesla car, and inadequate information among local buyers about the reality of charging cars rather than pumping gas into them.

The launch of Tesla's Model X may have been pushed back until later in 2015, but someone is apparently getting to enjoy how the electric SUV launches from a standing start. A case of "right place, right time" saw Juan del Real catch the camouflaged car undergoing testing in Alameda, California, hooning up and down a runway as some lucky driver got to put the EV powertrain - and the prototype's brakes - through their paces. However, there's also speculation that what we're seeing is no Model X, and could in fact be something much more interesting: Tesla's upcoming "affordable" EV, the Model 3.

Though they face pushback when it comes to getting cars to potential owners via less-than-traditional retail means, Tesla is still on a tear. Their Model S is still in high demand, and CEO Elon Musk recently admitted they’d already sold through stock for their Model X. The Model 3 is coming soon, too. So are battery swapping stations, as well as the company speeding up the already ‘Insane’ P85D via a software upgrade. The car reaches speeds that, according to Musk, was an accident anyway.

Electric cars come with a certain stigma that Tesla Motors is doing its best to squash. The auto maker's Model S has obliterated many of them, but still, electric vehicles aren't typically the first thing to pop into consumers' minds when it comes to zipping around at fast speeds. That has likely changed now that its "Insane Mode" has gone viral, with several of the uninitiated having been taken at breath-snatching speeds down the road inside of the Model S P85D.